Former Osoyoos mayor Tom Shields surveys Desert Park on July 18. He has pitched a plan to Osoyoos town council that, if accepted, would bring large-scale concerts back to the facility. Photo by Paul Everest - Click on photo for larger image

OSOYOOS TIMES-July 22, 2009

By Paul Everest - Osoyoos Times

Imagine Shania Twain belting out Man! I Feel Like a Woman! while the moon rises over Anarchist Mountain.
Or picture the boys from Bon Jovi rocking out to Wanted Dead or Alive with each drumbeat echoing across the orchards.
Tom Shields, the “Former Rock ’n’ Roll Mayor of Canada” and Osoyoos, wants to see it happen.
In September of 1992, Shields, who was mayor of Osoyoos at the time, was instrumental in bringing Canadian rock icon Bryan Adams to Osoyoos for a show at Desert Park.
Roughly 30,000 people attended the concert.
Shields now wants to resurrect the concept of holding large-scale concerts at the park and he appeared before Osoyoos town council for a private meeting on July 14 to pitch the idea with members of the Cressman-Sakamoto Agency, which handles acts such as Twain and Bon Jovi.
He is the Osoyoos operations manager for an Okanagan Valley-based organization called W.A.L.L. Music and Entertainment.
The group’s plan is to take over the administration of Desert Park with the goal of putting on at least four major concerts per year at the park starting in 2010.
Shields said his organization is prepared to pump $2.5 million into the park for needs such as electricity, levelling of ground for parking and proper lighting.
“If the facility is fixed up, within two to three years we’ll have the place packed.”
The organization would also cover the insurance for the park, Shields said.
Two per cent of the gross proceeds from each show would go into the Town’s pockets, he said.
So, Shields added, if 20,000 people come out for a show and pay $100 per ticket, the Town would receive $40,000.
A $2 “facility improvement fund” fee would also be built into the price of each ticket sold.
As for whether the high numbers of people who turned up for Adams 17 years ago would return to Osoyoos, Shields said he was confident the town has drawing power.
In the summer, he said, Osoyoos can draw from the Okanagan Valley, the Kootenays, the U.S. and the Lower Mainland.
Many from the Vancouver area won’t travel to another city to see a show, Shields said, but they’ll come to a resort destination such as Osoyoos because it offers amenities such as the beach, the vineyards and a warm climate.
Part of Shields’ plan is to continue to have the South Interior Recreational Equine Centre (SIREC) organization run the equestrian activities at the park while W.A.L.L. runs events.
SIREC signed a six-month lease in Continued from Page A-1
May to run the park and the Town has said it will put out a request for proposals for long-term operations of the park later this summer.
Allan Carswell, SIREC’s president, said although Shields met with members of the group once in the past several weeks to discuss possible concerts, he first heard of the grand plans for the park last week.
He said he is “deeply disappointed” that the Town is entertaining proposals from other groups interested in running Desert Park since SIREC is only two months into its lease.
“The timing is really poor,” Carswell said. “The (Osoyoos Golf and Country Club) would be pretty choked if they found out the Town was entertaining another group for a lease.”
Carswell said he was told by the Town that discussions about long-term administration of the park would not begin until SIREC’s lease expired in November.
Meeting with Shields displayed a “lack of class” on the Town’s part, Carswell said, adding that the Town should have directed Shields and his organization to SIREC.
SIREC is willing to co-operate with other organizations to bring concerts to the park, Carswell said, adding that concerts and other entertainment events have been part of the Friends of Desert Park’s long-term plan for the facility.
But at this point, he said, it should be SIREC calling the shots at the park.
“Our main role is not to be single-focused. Our goal is to be the umbrella group.”
In response to Carswell’s concerns, Mayor Stu Wells said council has made no decision about Shields’ plans.
“They asked to make a presentation. We listened,” he said. “That’s it. (We) said nothing.”
Hearing such information presentations now is acceptable because council won’t want to make an uninformed decision when SIREC’s lease does expire in the fall, Wells said.
He added that it would be “great” to have two local organizations working together for the long-term operation of Desert Park under one bid.
Wells’ reaction to Shields’ pitch to council was one of concern.
He said having the same kinds of numbers that turned out for Bryan Adams “could shut the town down.”
A concert at the park would be great, Wells said, but on a smaller scale.
“Put on a 10,000-person concert and let’s see how we perform,” he said.
The main issues, Wells added, would be parking and traffic control and he said he would prefer having a system where people could be bused to the concert site.
Shields said he understands concerns about parking and traffic but solutions can be found.
He said new parking areas around Desert Park could be created and a strong system of co-operation with the RCMP could be established to handle traffic in the area on a concert day as best as possible.
Other suggestions for handling traffic included putting a “one-way road system” in place to have traffic flowing to the park from the south and back to town from the north, as well as constructing a new road from the park to Hwy. 3.
“Yes, we’re going to be busy,” Shields said. “But it’s bringing good business to the Town.”
At a presentation before council at its July 20 meeting, Shields said his organization does not want to “kick” SIREC out of Desert Park.
He added, however, that if work doesn’t begin on booking acts for next year now, Osoyoos could miss out as offers to performers need lead time since many acts book tours a year in advance.
His organization has already put an offer out to Twain, Shields said.
Coun. C.J. Rhodes said he was “excited” by Shields’ idea, but wanted to respect the Town’s commitment to SIREC and wait for the request for proposals process to begin.
Wells asked Shields to allow “council to get a handle on this” and to wait for some further discussion on the matter in August.
In the end, council passed a motion to have Shields’ plan studied by Town staff.
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